Finn sat at the large table of the Linear Tactical conference room, arguably his least favorite place in their entire facility. He’d much rather be outside teaching one of the classes he and his partners provided here. Their years in Special Forces had taught them how to adapt, defend, and survive almost any situation. They’d used that training and knowledge to develop this company and share those same survival intelligence skills with others.

Sitting around a conference table wasn’t Finn’s forte. But for US Army Major Mark Pinnock, his former commanding officer, he would do it. No doubt the two men sitting with him, Aiden Teague and Zac Mackay, felt the same—about the man, and conference table.

“I need people who can fit in without standing out, who are smart, and who I can trust.” The major was currently stationed at Hill Air Force Base a few hours west of Oak Creek, but was working with NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense command. “You guys fit the bill for all three.”

Finn looked across the table at Aiden and Zac. All of them had served under Major Pinnock when they’d been in the Army, as had their other partners, who would be here if they were in town. Zac was here out of respect for the man, even though he was currently taking time off with his girlfriend, who was recuperating from being attacked two weeks ago.

They would all do anything for the major.

The fact that the older man had come to Oak Creek to enlist their help, rather than asking them to travel to Hill AFB, spoke to the gravity of the situation.

“As you know, after 9/11, NORAD took over monitoring any large or small aircraft entering into American airspace. We work with them on a daily basis,” the major continued. He turned to the man sitting next to him. “This is Henry Nicholson. He came to me last week concerned that his boss is selling ways to get around holes in our air defense.”

Finn nodded to the man who had been sitting silently up until now, just observing the situation. He could appreciate those who monitored and took in information before launching into speech. That was someone you wanted on your side of a battle.

Major Pinnock gestured for Henry to continue. “My evidence is not conclusive, but I discovered some pretty damning transmissions from my boss. Tracking small aircrafts in US airspace is an important part of the battle against drug, weapon, and human trafficking. Providing intel on how to avoid detection would be a valuable commodity to the right buyers.”

“And that’s what your boss is allegedly providing?” Finn asked.

Henry nodded. “Gordon Cline. Yes, I’ve tracked down some of the contacts that received the incriminating transmission from him. None are terrorists or known enemies of the US, but most are certainly criminals. Smugglers, from what I could tell. Cline should not have been in contact with these people.”

Zac turned to the major. “We’d be the first to agree this is suspicious and that you should look into it. But you probably have more resources equipped to handle this than we do.”

Major Pinnock nodded. “I do, but I still need your help. We’re keeping Cline in play at the base to catch the people he’s in contact with, or at least gather more intel about them. Henry will be tracking things from his end to see what he can discover.”

Henry’s jaw clenched. “I know Cline is setting up meetings, but the locations are constantly changing, and we don’t know what’s happening there. I can’t go because I’ll be recognized immediately.”

Finn leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “What about law enforcement? Federal or local. Get someone to go undercover.”

“That was our first inclination,” Pinnock said, “before we discovered a man named Stellman was involved.”

Finn looked over at Zac and Aiden, who were both shrugging. None of them had ever heard of Stellman. “Should we know who that is?”

Pinnock rubbed the bridge of his nose. “That’s just it. Nobody—at least not in law enforcement—does. But everyone knows he’s near the top of the criminal food chain. He’s got his fingers in just about every sort of illegal pie there is: trafficking, weapons, extortion, information brokering. If we can grab him at the same time we bust Cline, we’ll be doing everyone a service.”

“All reasons to get law enforcement in on this, Major,” Zac said. “We want to help, but there’s only so much we’re trained to do.”

“We know Stellman has some law enforcement in his pocket, so we’re not sure who can be trusted,” Henry responded. “That’s why the major wanted to come to you guys. He knows you can’t be bought.”

Major Pinnock nodded. “When the time is right, and we know who can be trusted, law enforcement will very definitely be involved. But all I wanted to see from you guys today is if you’re even interested. We don’t have specifics on the when or where yet, but we will soon. If you’re not available, I need to find someone else.”

“We’ll help.” Aiden was quick to jump in. “Whatever it is you need, you can count on us. You know that, Major.”

Zac and Finn agreed. This man had commanded them at their best, worst, most wounded, and their most triumphant. Finn in particular. If it weren’t for Major Pinnock, Finn probably would’ve been court-martialed and dishonorably discharged eight years ago.

“Yeah, Major, we’re in.” Finn grinned. “Even if Uncle Sam has an Army man like you working at an Air Force base. What’s up with that?”

The major stood, shaking his head ruefully. “Trust me, I’d much rather be back in Stuttgart or Fort Bragg, but all in all, working with the airmen—guys like Henry—isn’t too bad. We’ll be in touch soon with more details.”

Henry stood also. “If everything follows true to form, this shouldn’t interfere with your jobs or the day-to-day running of Linear Tactical. It will be more nighttime work—probably a lot of nightclubs. So far that seems to be where Cline is setting up meetings. It may result in just showing up and keeping your eyes and ears open.”

Finn, Zac, and Aiden got up to walk Major Pinnock and Henry to the door. The major slapped Finn on the back. “You guys can get in and out of places around most of this part of the state without anyone batting an eye.”

“Just let us know what you need, and we’ll be there,” Zac said, and once again everyone nodded. They all shook hands.

The major’s car had barely left the drive before Finn’s son, Ethan, came zooming around the corner, followed by little Jessica. At four, Jessica was three and a half years younger than Ethan, but she was big for her age and he was small, so the age gap wasn’t very apparent.

Except to Finn.

He didn’t give a shit if his son’s best friend—that his only friend—was a girl. In his mind, that just proved the kid had good taste. But the fact that Ethan needed someone so much younger to relate to. . .it ate at him. Ethan never wanted to play with kids from his own grade, even when Finn tried to arrange play dates.

Ethan only wanted to be around Jess. Granted, she was one of their closest neighbors and her mom worked at Linear, so Jess was around a lot. Were they so close because of that or the intellectual challenges facing his son?

“Come on, Jess,” Ethan said. “Dad’s done. Let’s go build Legos!”

Jess roared her answer in a voice twice as loud as Ethan’s. “Yeah, Legos!”

On his way out, Zac laughed and waved as, without even stopping the children streaked past Finn and Aiden and into the office in the back room where the toys were kept. A German shepherd puppy, which Ethan had named Sky—short for Skywalker—scrambled in after them.

A few seconds later Jessica’s mom, Peyton, rounded the corner, looking tired and worn out. “Sorry, Finn.” The pinched look that always seemed to blanket her features was even more pronounced than usual. “They got away from me while I was cleaning the sparring area.”

Finn smiled. “No harm. We were already done. Plus, I’m pretty sure babysitting Ethan is not included in your agreed upon duties.” Peyton was, for all intents and purposes, Linear’s janitor. She came in four days a week and cleaned a different area each day.

Her smile was brief and tight. Her eyes darted back and forth across the yard, as if she was on the lookout for something. “But keeping my Jess under control is.”

“They’re in playing Legos, so I think we’re all safe for a while. I’ll make sure they don’t burn down the place, so no worries.”

“Okay, thanks.” She grabbed her bucket of cleaning supplies and turned toward the large barn they’d turned into a sparring and workout area when they’d first opened.

Standing on the wrap-around porch, Finn could hear Ethan and Jessica talking in the playroom. Was he perpetuating the problem by allowing Ethan to spend so much time with the preschooler? School was out for summer, so his son was relatively happy spending all his time with Jess, Finn, or Finn’s mom. But things would change when school started again in the fall.

Ethan hated school. Finn knew it was because his son felt like a failure when it came to learning, particularly reading. He was too young to understand that part of the problem was because of choices his mother had made when she’d been pregnant and when Ethan had been a baby, before Finn had even known he had a son.

“What’s that look about?” Aiden asked.

Finn rubbed the back of his neck. “Ethan. Knowing that school will start in the fall and he’ll still be behind.”

“What about that tutor Ethan’s teacher found?”

Charlie. Finn had spent the past month specifically trying not to think about her. “Yeah, that didn’t work out.”

“Ethan didn’t like her?”

Finn shrugged. “He never actually met her. I found out the tutor was my ex. . .” Ex what? Love of his life? Woman he thought he would spend forever with? “. . . girlfriend. Just thought it would be better to forget the whole thing.”

“The rich ex-girlfriend?”

“Yep. The princess of Oak Creek.”

“You think she’s not good at her job?”

To be honest, Finn couldn’t imagine Charlie as any sort of education specialist, particularly working with kids with disabilities. But he’d never been able to think straight when it came to her. “I think Charlotte Devereux is unreliable. She might be okay as a tutor, but it won’t take long before she gets bored and takes off. What happens when Ethan comes to depend on her and she decides this little hobby isn’t worth her time? I don’t want her near Ethan at all.”

Didn’t want her near him either.

Liar.

Finn pushed that voice out of his mind the same way he had the thought of her the last few weeks. But like it or not, the fact was, Ethan needed help. They’d been working with Mrs. Johnson, the county special ed coordinator, all summer, but it wasn’t enough. Ethan needed someone who specialized in his particular learning disabilities.

Nobody in Teton County had really been able to make a difference for Ethan. Hell, that was true even for the people they’d traveled outside of the county to see. And now there was talk about putting him in a special class. When the kid had heard that, he’d just about lost it.

Ethan had already been through so much in his short life and had come so far. Both Finn and Mrs. Johnson had tried to explain to Ethan how a special class might help him, might make things easier for him to learn. But Ethan didn’t want that. He just wanted to be a normal kid in a normal class. He didn’t want to be someone the other children made fun of.

Kids could be cruel.

But Finn couldn’t let him just continue to flounder academically. He was going into third grade, and his learning problems would compound if they didn’t manage to teach Ethan some coping strategies. Soon he wouldn’t be able to successfully pass each grade.

His kid needed help. Finn scrubbed a hand across his face again. If Charlie could possibly provide that, didn’t he owe it to Ethan to give her a chance?

Maybe. But he just couldn’t see Charlie having the patience and tactics to provide Ethan that sort of help.

He didn’t even know if she was around anymore. He hadn’t seen her in Oak Creek since that day at the Frontier Diner a little over a month ago. She may have already gotten bored with her little foray into special education.

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out, man,” Aiden said. “You are coming out to The Eagle’s Nest tonight, right?”

“Are you kidding? Annie would kill me if I didn’t. Plus, my mom already agreed to let Ethan stay overnight. So yeah, some adult shenanigans sound good.”

He was happy for Zac and Annie, he really was. His friend had finally found happiness, even if it was with someone Zac had never expected to wander back into his life.

Finn just didn’t hold out any hope it would happen the same way for him.